Envelope and separable handle therefor



July 3, 1928. 1,675,439

H. A. WQLF ENVELOPE AND SEPARABLE HANDLE THEREFOR Filed Oct. 15, 1923 /NVE/VTOR Howard 4 Waf MZGM Patented July 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT orr cs.

HOWARD A. WOLF, OF ELKINS PARK. PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T EDWIN WOLF, BENJAMIN WOLF, CLARENCE WOLF, LOUIS WOLF, AND ALBERT WOLF, ALL OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, COPARTNERS TRADING AS WOLF BROTHERS.

ENVELOPE AND SEPARABLE HANDLE THEREFOR.

Application filed October 15, 1923. Serial No. 668,536.

It is known to provide envelopes having integral therewith tabs from which the envelopes may be suspended and carried by hand. Such envelopes serve a useful purpose as article carriers and are especially convenient for use when shopping. It is, however, inconvenient and awkward to carry several of these loaded envelopes by means of as many different handles.

The object of my invention is to provide a slotted envelope and a separable handle therefor, said handle, although of fiat form, being of arelatively stifi' material, such as thick cardboard or light metal, the handle being so shaped that it may be readily engaged with a slotted envelope but cannot be accidentally disengaged therefrom, the mode of engagement of the handle with an envelope being such that, while engaged with one envelope itmay be readily engaged with other envelopes without disengagement with the first, and may be, in fact, engaged successively with a number of envelopes.

\Vhile it is advisable to specially adapt an envelope for engagement with my improved handle, the latter is per se novel and is adaptable for engagement with slotted or orificed envelopes already in use.

In the drawings:

' Fig. 1 is a front view of two envelo es and a separable handle engaged therewit Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a front view of a modified form of handle.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4. of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front view of another modified form of handle.

Anenvelope of rectangular form compris- 40 ing a body portion a and a flap b is provided with a slot 0 extending through the front and back of the envelope body and also through the flap. This slot, in its preferred form, extends horizontally, or parallel to the upper edge of the envelope and is relatively long and narrow.

The separable handle shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has a relatively very wide upper portion (1 having a lon wide slot 0 through which the fingers of t e hand may be readily inserted. The opposite edges of the handle slope, from the widest upper art thereof, downward and shar 1y inwar and thence curve successively ownward and inward,

downward and outward, outward and somewhat upward, outward and downward and finally downward and inward toward the center of the bottom edge. Thus are formed a relatively narrow neck f and a lower portion having Wings 9, 7, projecting laterally on opposite sides of the neck.

The distance between the outer extremity of a wing on either side and the edge of the neck on the other side is approximately equal to the length of the slot 0. Therefore, the handle may be engaged with the envelope by first inserting one wing through the slot- 0 until the edge of the neck adjacent to such wing engages one end ot the slot, then swinging the handle, on said engaging point of the neck as a fulcrum, until the other wing swings through the slot, and then moving the handle laterally until the neck is more or less centrally positioned in the slot. The handle, during and after insertion, should be maintained in a plane parallel with the plane of the envelope and should be drawn up until the upwardly extending tips of the wings engage the envelope material beyond the ends of the slots. As a matter of fact, when the envelope contains an article of any substantial weight, and is suspended from the handle, the latter. automatically assumes the described position relative to the envelope.

The concave upper edges of opposite wings should be so shaped that if a line is drawn tangential to the curves of said concavities, the two points of intersection will be a distance apart approximately equal to the length of the slot 0, whereby when the handle is in carrying position, the tips of the wings will extend above the level of the top edge of the slot and will most effectively lock with the envelope.

The handle need not be of the specific shape specified. Thus, in Fig. 5 I show a handle comprising a finger-hold portion h at the top which is of little, and need be of no, greater width than the neck 2', Just below the neck portion, the side edges curve outward and thence. are undercut to form a shoulder j. The lower end of the handle widens abruptly at some distance below the shoulder j, to form-wings k, k.

The last described handle is engaged with the envelope slot by first insertin the finger-hold end It through the slot an drawing the handle upward. The shouliilered part v engage the envelope material beyond oppo-' site ends of the slot, and it cannot be withdrawn accidentally except by a manipulation the reverse of that-required for its entrance.

It is apparent that these handles, and espeeiallythe one first described, may be adapted for engagement with orifices in envelopes not specially prepared for engagement therewith, so that the handle has utility aside and apart from the envelope to which it is more particularly and best adapted.

It is clear that any reasonable number of envelopes may he slipped on the same handle, like beads on a string, and therefore that the shopper may carry a number of envelopes from a common handle, thereby not only enabling the shopper to carry a number of envelopes as readily as one, butminimizing the danger of loss of any one of them.

In Figs. 3 and 4 is shown a modification of the handle shown in Fig. 1. Instead of completely cutting away the material of the slot, I remove only'the lower half of such material and by slitting the material at m, m, and scoring it on the line n, leave a depending flap 0. When the user slips his fingers through the slot, the flap is automatically pushed outward and upward, as shown in Fig. 4, thus reinforcing and strengthening the material above the slot and affording a. more comfortable hold for the fingers.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a plurality ot envelopes of a rigid separable handle. each envelope having a slot in each of it wallswhieh register with each other. the handle comprising a barbed head portion substantially wider than the length oi the slots and so shaped as to facilitate its passage through all oil the slots, the extremities of the bead being adapted to engage the material of one envelope beyond the ends of the slot therein, an upper suspensory portion of greater width than said slots and an intermediate neck of a length adapted to extend through the slots in a plurality of envelopes and ot a width adapted to slide in the slots.

2. An envelope having two opposed walls, registering. slots in said walls adjacent an edge of the envelope, said slotscxtending substantially parallel to said edge, and a rigid separable handle therefor comprising a head portion substantially wider than the length of: the slots, :1 suspensory portion of greater width than the length'of the slots, and an intermediate neck portion adapted to extend through the slots.

An envelope having two opposed walls, registering slots insaid walls adjacent an edge of the envelope, said slots extending substantially parallel to said edge, and a rigid separable handle therefor comprising a head portion substantially wider than the length of the slots, a suspensory portion of greater width than the length of the slots. and an intermediate neck portion adapted to extend through the slots, the distance between a point on one edge of the neck portion at the narroivest portion thercot and 

